TWENTY-year-old Elizabeth Hayden is one of a number of young Irish event riders making a name for themselves on the national and international stage.

The highest-placed Irish rider and an individual medal winner in her own right for the past two years at the FEI European Eventing Championships, Hayden has been part of the gold medal-winning Irish team at junior and young rider level for the past two years.

Individual silver medallist at the junior European Championships in 2013 and the individual bronze medallist at the young rider European Championships, she played a key role for Team Ireland on both teams.

Horse Sport Ireland team manager Sally Corscadden recalls her contribution: “I was delighted to have Elizabeth and Miracle joining the young rider programme in 2014. They were successful at junior level and I was confident they could make the step up to young riders.

“I knew I could use Elizabeth and Miracle’s confidence and strength across the country to be the all important pathfinder for the team and they produced a brilliant clear, inside the time, to give the team a perfect start.”

She continued: “Elizabeth knew team gold was dependent on her jumping a clear round, and despite this pressure she showed remarkable composure and coolness. She is a real team player, and gives great support to her fellow team mates. She was a pleasure to work with, always positive and focused.”

So what is the secret to the young rider’s success? We find out about Hayden’s behind the scenes preparation and her training tips.

When did your preparation for the 2015 season began?

I started the horses back into light work in December after a couple of months off. To start off we normally hack them or put them on the walker for three to four weeks and then we might introduce some lunging and hacking. By the end of January they were ready to start proper work which includes lots of flat schooling at this stage and the start of dressage work.

How to you train for each phase?

At the start of the season I focus mainly on flatwork with all my horses as this is the basis for good jumping and dressage.

I like to keep them interested so I do a good bit of hacking, sometimes even just as a warm-up. We are lucky as we have lots of quiet lanes right off the yard for hacking. When I hack, I always make the horses go long and low as this really stretches them out and helps the warm-up.

We also have a horse walker and mix and match days using this and lunging which, once done correctly, can be beneficial. My horses are worked six days a week and once the season is in full swing I ride them daily, and they get a day off after an event.

During the competition season the routine normally is long and low hacking followed by dressage schooling several times a week, or at least as much as time allows.We usually jump every second or third day and then I also have to fit in lessons. I usually have a dressage lesson with Heike Holstein once a week and every couple of weeks I try to do a show jumping lesson with Ian Fearon.

Once or twice a month we head to Grange Farm, the cross-country playground, for a good school over solid fences. Before the eventing season began, once the horses were fit I began my competition preparation work with combined training competitions and hunter trials.

Do you have any simple exercises readers could practise at home?

Well I would be a firm believer that consistency pays dividends and it has been drilled into me from a young age that a good warm-up and cool down are so important.

I would recommend always a warm-up, no matter what discipline, that includes walking first, followed by trotting and then cantering in a long and low position. This stretches and uses all the muscles across the back and is so good for the horse. You can do this by hacking, riding in the arena or lunging.

I personally tend not to use any artificial aids when riding, coming from the school of thought that a well-schooled horse, ridden properly, shouldn’t need any. However for lunging I am in favour of using a De Gogue or chambon as this encourages and teaches horses to go long and low.

For jumping work at home, it is always helpful to do lots of gridwork. It gets you awake and the horse thinking. I also like to put a trot pole in front of a fence which encourages the horse to take a step in and use themselves over fences.

When it comes to cross-country exercises, I really recommend practising skinnies and difficult lines. It is a good idea to go somewhere that has a cross-country playground with movable fences (like Grange Farm which I use) and to set up a line of skinnies – that will really get you and the horse focused.

Fitness of the horse – what is your regime?

Well fitness for eventing is obviously so important. My horses, as I mentioned, are worked six times a week which helps for general fitness but for cross-country fitness we go to the gallops most weeks starting from January onwards.

I would start by giving them a good canter for five furlongs and then that is gradually increased to 10 furlongs, once we are in full season (by about March/April). Prior to a big competition like Tattersalls or the Europeans, where peak fitness is required, I would bring my horses twice a week to the gallops.

Yes, it can be difficult to fit it all in but that is what I love about eventing, it is a huge challenge.

Your own fitness–what do you do?

I am lucky enough to avail of Joe O’Connor who is personal advisor on fitness and nutrition for Horse Sport Ireland. Rider fitness and well-being is so important and I really have to take it very seriously.

I go to the gym four times a week to keep fit and usually do core work, pilates and swim there. I don’t run much, to my parent’s dismay, as I just hate it, hence the gym routine but you have to pick what works for you and then stick with it.

I have cut out as many ‘whites’ from my diet as possible, including all white bread. I don’t drink fizzy drinks and avoid fast food. I try not to eat chocolate but sometimes I have to allow myself some.

The hardest thing to give up for me was bread and chocolate, but I found this great recipe for porridge bread which is 100% good for you, so I now bake it and freeze it by the slice so I can have my bread fix. Message me on Facebook for the recipe!

What are your personal targets for 2015?

I would love to be selected to ride for Ireland again this year and be part of the young rider team again. I also will aim to complete my first three-star on Mac (Miracle) and possibly Piper (Classic Piper) too. I’ll prepare for these goals by basically following the regime I’ve talked about in this interview, obviously tweaking as we go along.

How do you cope with the pressure of team selection?

Personally, I don’t feel pressure to be selected, I just feel incredibly lucky to be doing a sport that I love, have some great horses, including some exciting young horses in the wings too, and I just give it my all and hope to be selected.

Eventing is a harsh sport and things can go to plan or not go to plan, so you have to keep a cool head and focus, and the teams normally select themselves.

I think anyone who feels too much pressure to be selected or is worried about their horse power may be putting too much pressure on themselves to get on the team or to get their qualifications and this is generally when mistakes creep in. You’re supposed to enjoy the sport you do!

I love the excitement of big competitions, especially the cross-country and last year at the Europeans I was sent out first as the pathfinder. Luckily, I went clear and hopefully that gave the rest of the team confidence that it was a good course.

How do you work on your own weaknesses?

In terms of riding, we all know dressage is a particular challenge. Nobody gets full marks so it is always an area I can work on myself and my horses to try and gain an extra point or two and to get more consistency.

I do this by having good lessons with my dressage trainer, Heike Holstein, and consistently working on it at home with Ken Mahon, who has helped us for years. I find it’s always very important for someone to watch you, whether it be mum or your dressage trainer to point out mistakes that you may not realise you’re making.

How important are sponsors to success?

I am really lucky with my great sponsors; Gain Horse Feeds, Tredstep Ireland, Ryanair, Panda Recycling, Zara’s Planet, Cooney Carey and, just new for 2015, Jack Murphy.

They are so important as financially it is an expensive sport and so last year we made a plan and goal as to how much support we needed and between Dad and myself we worked very hard to make a compelling business case which has paid off.

I think if you want quality sponsorship you need to wait until you have proven results first and then you have to deliver to your sponsors in terms of branding, PR and profiling.

HAYDEN’S TOP TIPS

Elizabeth Hayden gives her top five tips for event riders at all levels.

“Some of these tips might seem obvious but at all levels you see people making mistakes by simply not paying attention to the important thing,” says the European gold medal winner.